Yuzuru found himself standing outside the castle’s backdoor, his fist poised to knock. It was night, but he was sure a minute ago it wasn’t.

Disorientated, he leaned back and sifted through his memories. He was sure he’d been in this position yesterday, banging on the door after chasing Gweyn all the way from the guest tower.

So… how did he get here?

Yuzuru looked at his hands. They were encased in a soft glow, which he recognized as Pikorin’s power.

She was making something.

The door opened, causing him to fall into the entryway. Lantern light streamed into his eyes as guards pointed spears at his face.

“I’ll never understand travelers,” Queen Katheryn said chillingly. “Guards? Show him the exit.”

Hands reached around Yuzuru arms, yanking him up exactly as they did yesterday.

“Hold on,” Yuzuru said. “Wait, Your Highness. I… I come bearing gifts.”

The Queen raised one thin eyebrow. “Why would I ever accept a gift from you? I should hang your head to the walls for disturbing the eve of my son’s marriage.”

“Because… it’s not for you,” Yuzuru said, thinking quickly. “Her dad, Gweyn’s king of… her castle, wanted me to pass this on to her. It will legitimize her as his daughter.”

The Queen waved for her guards to let go. “Where is it?” she demanded.

“It’s too important for anyone but me to give,” Yuzuru said, shuffling back from the guards and stuffing his hands in his pockets. “You either let me attend her wedding or she’ll never get her father’s blessing.”

He stared down the Queen, watching as rage furrowed her brows. Then, she relaxed. “So be it. However, I will not have you wandering throughout the ceremony unwatched. One wrong move and I will have your head.”

Midnight came and gone. Yuzuru slept like a brick in the castle’s singular guest room, motionless in his bed.

Or at least that was what it would’ve looked like by anyone peeking in. While the pillow dummy provided cover, he was on the other side of the bed, hidden against the wall. The ground all around him was covered with pieces of paper, and up to the moment the sun rose, he did not stop for a single moment to rest.

The ceremonies were underway. Yuzuru was brought from his room straight to the hall, where he was sat in the corner and forced to watch as merchants and lords filed in like cattle, followed closely by armed knights in red gilded armor.

After everyone was promptly seated, dozens of squires and many more servants began going around the tables, plating foods and filling drinks. The knights stood against the walls, forming a fence around the entire congregation.

To keep people out or in, Yuzuru wondered.

A gentleman made his way over. He leaned in and chortled at the sign hanging around Yuzuru’s neck that said, Traveler.

“You’re very brave to come here,” he said.

“Or mad,” Yuzuru said. “Both, I’m thinking.”

The gentleman nodded to the knights standing on either side of Yuzuru before leaving to join in the feast.

At the front of the hall were the three icy thrones. This time, the Prince sat in the middle, with Gweyn and the Queen on either side. He wore a more splendid garb of red and black, with solid shoulder pads and a flowing cape than came down the front of his chest, over one arm. The Queen was in comparison dressed simply. She had her hair done up in a spiraling plaid, on top of which perched her crown. The sapphire in it gleamed as she turned to survey the congregation, stopping at the far end of the wall where Yuzuru was sat by himself and flanked by guards.

Her smile was as cold as her eyes.

Yuzuru wasn’t paying her much attention though. He only had eyes for Gweyn, who looked like a different person with her hair loose. A flowing white dress cascaded around her, hugging all the right places. Her tiara was plain and she wore no other jewelry, but Yuzuru couldn’t imagine anyone looking more queenly than her.

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She caught him looking. There was fear in her expression, but she seemed to want to smile.

As the rest of the guests were seated, the Queen began to address them.

“My lords of the Red Nation, I thank you all for attending this auspicious ceremony on such short notice. From this moment onward, you will be witnesses to the rise of our great House.”

One man stood up. “Your Highness,” he said. “I believe I speak for all of us when I question the legitimacy of this marriage. There are rumors…” He broke off, looking concerned.

“Oh?” said the Queen, betraying not a shred of emotion in her cool voice. “Do explain, my lord.”

“My Queen, what you are proposing is matrimony between our Great Prince and a… a girl we have no proof is actually a Stryde. There are rumors that… that the Strydes never even had a girl.” The man looked around for confirmation. A few heads nodded as mutters began arising.

“She’s a bastard!” another lord exclaimed. “Queen Kathrn, you are not seriously hinging the fate of the entire kingdom on a farce?”

The Prince of Skulls banged his fist on his throne and stood, his cape falling over him. “What treacherous, foul-mouthed accusations! Guards!”

Kathrn didn’t say anything. She only held up a hand, and a knight standing at the wall approached the lord. Grabbing the man’s head back, the knight dragged a blade across his throat in one quick movement.

The lord collapsed, gurgling in his own blood.

Chaos erupted as everyone pushed back their chairs. “What are you standing there for?” another lord yelled at the knight closest to him. “Do something!”

The knight didn’t move.

“Sit down, please.”

Kathrn’s command stopped everything. One by one, the lords turned from the dying man on the ground to look up at their queen.

“There is no need for such theatrics my lords,” Kathrn said. “If you all stopped fattening your gullets with my food for a minute, you will see that I have made preparations to ensure this pairing is legitimized.”

She waited.

No one spoke. The lords took their seats.

Yuzuru glanced up at his own guards. They, too, stood like statues.

Which means they either love the Queen or fear her.

He clutched the black box in his hands tighter.

There was a sound at the door. As everyone looked, it opened and a boy stepped in.

“Ah,” said the Queen. “Here it is.”

“King Jamie Stryde the First of Cold Castle,” announced the boy. “Rightful ruler of the Blue Nation.”

An old man stumbled onto the carpet. He wore nothing but a loincloth and was covered in bruises and new wounds. His sudden appearance made everyone gasp, including Yuzuru. More knights followed the king, prodding him forward with the end of their spears.

Jamie Stryde moaned in agony as he crawled on all fours, along the narrow stretch of carpet over to the thrones.

“It has been a while, Jamie,” said Kathrn, showing the first hint of delight on her sharp face. “I see the Witch Witch took not only your sanity with her, but also your dignity.”

Jamie was forced to kneel. Other than the loincloth, he also had a steel crown on his head, but it wasn’t anything like what the three before him had. His was a dark ring of metal, twisted in places and filled with holes.

Yuzuru realized with a start that the holes were probably where all the crown’s jewels were, before they were gouged out.

The Mad King shook his head. “Hell is deep for you, Kathrn.”

Kathrn didn’t seem to even hear him. “Do you know why you’re still alive, Jamie? Instead of hanging off our walls like the rest of the traitors of the realm?”

As she said this, the lord who had his throat slit had finally stopped twitching. He lay by his overturned chair, blood pooling around the feet of those sitting next to him.

The silence in the room was overwhelming.

“No,” said Jamie finally.

The Queen commanded Gweyn to stand. The girl did, the curls of her dress falling around her ankles.

“Do you know who this is?”

Jamie didn’t even look at Gweyn as he repeated himself. “No.”

Gweyn’s face tightened into a scowl. She stared down at her father, but the king spoke as if she was not there.

“In all my life, I fathered four princes and no more. All were slain under your sword, Kathrn. Remember that as you sleep tonight.”

“Oh, I do,” replied the Queen. “And you should remember this is your last chance to save what’s left of your pitiful kingdom.”

Finally, the Mad King turned to look at Gweyn. “She is no Stryde,” he said. “She wears no heirlooms to prove it.”

“Well,” said Kathrn with a patronizing smile. “Don’t we have a solution to that.”

Yuzuru took that as his cue. He got up and started making his way over to the thrones.

All eyes turned to him.

“I have something,” he announced, coming to a stop next to the king. “Inside the box I hold are the earrings worn by every child of the Stryde family.”

The Mad King’s eyes widened. “How could it be?” he demanded. “Who are you and why do you meddle in the affairs of the realm?”

“I’m sorry,” Yuzuru told him, “but this is the only way.” He stepped around the king and started towards Gweyn, stopping on the step below her.

Gweyn’s eyes were misty but she did not cry.

Kathrn spoke up. “My lords. Behold the legitimization of Gweyn Styrde, Princess and heir of Cold Castle, new ruler of the Blue Nation.” She nodded to Yuzuru. “Proceed, traveler.”

Yuzuru stared into Gweyn’s eyes. He unlatched the front of the box.

Tears finally slid down Gweyn’s face. “You were supposed to run away with those,” she whispered. “Sell them or something and start a new life.”

Yuzuru chuckled, his fingers resting on the box’s lid. “There’s no point starting any life if I lose you.” He grinned, and as he began opening the box he saw the Queen stand up suddenly.

She must’ve noticed something wasn’t right, but she was too late.

Yuzuru threw the opened box into the air and pulled Gweyn into his chest, pressing her face to his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, but even through his eyelids, the flash of light was blinding.